Kirk was shot in the neck while talking to someone in the audience about mass shootings in the US. Investigators said that the shooter was on the roof of a building around 142 yards (130 m) away. A local hospital declared him deceased. Tyler James Robinson, who was 22 years old at the time, turned himself in to the local sheriff's office the next day. Prosecutors charged Robinson with murder on September 16 and said they will ask for the death sentence, saying the attack was politically motivated.The killing was a clear example of rising political violence in the US, and authorities from both the US and other countries denounced it. Video of the shooting quickly spread on social media. People reacted in many ways, from sincere comments of sadness about the current situation to celebrations of his death. Before a suspect was caught or a motive was found, U.S. president Donald Trump, Republicans, and other conservatives accused Democrats and left-wing or liberal ideologies. As a result, the Trump administration called for a crackdown on left-wing groups. This was widely criticized by free speech advocates and legal experts as using the assassination as an excuse to silence political opposition. It also came at a time when political opponents and civil society were being targeted more broadly. Right-wing groups and U.S. government agencies worked together on a campaign that led to widespread firings, disciplinary measures, and harassment of anyone who cheered Kirk's murder or spoke bad things about him after the killing.
Charlie Kirk was an American right-wing political activist, author, and media personality. He was best known for co-founding and running Turning Point USA. He was a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and used his skills in social media and campus organizing to become a very powerful figure in the "hard-right movement." The New York Times called Kirk "something of a kingmaker" because he was able to get people to back Trump cabinet choices who were in trouble and against Republican Party members he thought weren't supportive enough of Trump. The Washington Post called him "one of the most important voices on the right" in the last several years. Axios called Kirk a "driving force" behind Trump's presidential campaigns.
Kirk was killed at a time when American politics was becoming more divided and violent. It came after a number of violent political events, such as the June 2025 shootings of two Minnesota legislators and their spouses, the May 2025 deaths of two Israeli embassy workers in Washington, D.C., the April 2025 firebombing of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's home, the December 2024 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and failed assassination attempts on Trump in July and September 2024. Kirk personally talked about the possibility of violence during a campaign rally with Nate Morris in Kentucky in June 2025. "We're on the front lines where it's not always safe," he told the gathering.
Attacks against politicians and government workers have gone up a lot since 2016. In the first half of 2025, START researcher Michael Jensen detected 150 politically driven assaults. This is almost twice as many as in the same time period in 2024. From 1975 on, several studies revealed that right-wing political violence was more common than left-wing political violence in the US. This was true even in the ten years before the Kirk killing. Kirk was a staunch supporter of the belief that there were a lot of transsexual mass shooters, even when experts said the opposite. Counter-terrorism specialists said that Trump's prior pardon of the terrorists on January 6 gave them permission to engage political violence. Most of the people who do these things don't belong to any formal group. Instead, extremist ideas proliferate on social media, where "a crude language of memes, slang, and jokes blurs the line between posturing and provoking violence, normalizing radical ideologies and activities."
Turning Point USA said on August 27 that Kirk would be going to a number of college campuses in September and October 2025 as part of the American Comeback Tour, a series of speeches and debates that started in February. Kirk was supposed to stop at UVU first on the tour this season. People signed a petition asking the institution to cancel his lecture, but university administrators let it go ahead because of principles that protect free speech and open discussion. There were about 3,000 people at the event, which was protected by six police officers and Kirk's own security team. Even though tickets were sold for the event, they weren't checked. People didn't have to go through metal detectors to get into the event.
Officials said that the man who was thought to be the gunman drove a gray Dodge Challenger to campus at 8:29 a.m. MDT (UTC–6). Investigators looked at security camera video and saw that he was wearing different clothes than he was when the incident happened.
Around 11:50 a.m., investigators say, the suspect showed up on camera again as he walked across a grassy area and into a parking lot near the college. TMZ uploaded a video on Twitter that seems to show the suspect near the location that the investigators talked about. He halted at the top of some steps at 11:53 a.m. and "pulled out his phone" before going into a tunnel for pedestrians. The FBI has published still photographs of him going up a stairway in a parking garage next to the tunnel. The gathering where people spoke started at noon.
At 12:02 p.m., officials stated they saw him. strolling to the north side of the Losee Center, where they alleged he would later shoot Kirk from the roof. An affidavit says that the suspect came into the Losee Center from the southeast side and was spotted going up the steps next to the building 13 minutes later. By 12:22 p.m., investigators claimed, he was on the roof, resting on his stomach, looking at the spot where Kirk was talking.
Kirk sat beneath a tent with the tour title on it and talked back and forth with UVU student Hunter Kozak about mass shootings in the US. At 12:23 p.m., someone on the roof of the Losee Center shot Kirk in the neck from 142 yards (130 m) away. Emma Pitts, a reporter for the Deseret News who was there, told NPR, "I just saw so much blood come out of the left side of Charlie's neck, and then he went limp." Jason Chaffetz, a former U.S. representative who was also there, said, "As soon as the shot went out, everybody hit the deck and everybody started scattering and yelling and screaming."
There was additional video of the accused shooter rushing from the south corner of the Losee Center roof, where he allegedly shot Kirk, to the north corner, where the ground was higher and he could hang from the edge of the roof and drop to the earth. This happened at 12:24 p.m. There were palm prints and smudges on the roof's edge, and samples were taken from them to test for DNA evidence. A footprint on the ground proved that he was wearing Converse sneakers. He then went into a forested area north of the school, where police subsequently recovered a weapon with a scope on top and bullet casings with writing on them.
The initial complaint of the gunfire came in at 12:26 p.m., according to police audio. At 12:31 p.m., an officer said, "Gunshots heard near the library." The officer said at 12:35 p.m., "maybe the CS building," and then described the gunman as "wearing jeans, a black shirt, a black mask, and carrying a long rifle." A minute later, the officer went into further detail, saying, "on top of the building on the far north side, just east of the library." Six guys carried Kirk to an SUV, which brought him to Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem, where he was declared dead.
Donald Trump said he was dead around 2:40 p.m. on Truth Social. The university told everyone to leave and closed the campus at 12:37 p.m. At 2:01 p.m., the university told everyone still on campus to "stay put until police can safely escort you off campus." All campuses, even those that are not main campuses, stopped having classes and activities until September 15.
The inquiry was helped by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
Two persons were taken into custody right after the incident, but they were let go later. One of them was a libertarian conservative who was jailed on campus after saying he had shot Kirk. The person who was detained subsequently said police he "was glad he said he shot the person so the real suspect could get away." He had a history of mental health problems and was known to Utah authorities for causing trouble at public gatherings. After that, they took him to the hospital. He was released from jail on September 14, but was then arrested for obstruction of justice. When police found pictures of child sexual abuse on his phone, he was additionally charged with sexual exploitation of kids.
FBI director Kash Patel said on social media that "the subject" in Kirk's assassination had been caught just a few hours after the shooting. Utah governor Spencer Cox added that a "person of interest" had also been caught. Patel added that the person had been "released after an interrogation by law enforcement" within two hours of making his first declaration.
Police found an older Mauser-type bolt-action hunting rifle with a .30-06 caliber bullet in a forested area near the shooting. They also found engraved cartridges, "a footwear impression, a palm print, and forearm imprints for analysis." Officials announced at a press conference on September 11 that they had "good video footage" and were using facial recognition technology on it. Later that day, the FBI said that its attempts to use facial recognition had failed, released pictures of a person of interest, and offered up to $100,000 for information in the case. The FBI also looked into other social media profiles that seemed to talk about the date of Kirk's murder before it happened.
There were words and online memes written on the cartridges that were found in the gun. The empty cartridge box has the words "Notices bulges OwO what's this?" written on it. This is a reference to furry internet roleplay. Three bullets that had not been fired had the following etched on them:
"Hey fascist! Catch!" the arrows are a reference to a series of gaming controller inputs that players use to call up a bomb in the video game Helldivers 2.
"Oh bella ciao bella ciao bella ciao ciao ciao," which is a reference to the Italian song "Bella ciao," which is about anti-fascism.
"You're gay if you read this, LMAO."
The song "Bella ciao" is still well-known as an anti-fascist hymn, but it has also come back into the public eye since the mid-2010s through the TV show Money Heist and the computer games Hearts of Iron IV and Far Cry 6.
The Senate Judiciary Committee questioned FBI director Kash Patel on September 16, 2025, about the probe and his social media posts about it. He claimed that more than 20 people who were in a Discord chat channel with the suspected gunman will be looked into. Federal and local officials have criticized Patel's leadership and how he handled the investigation, especially for his social media post on the day of the shooting saying that a suspect was in custody, which he took back 90 minutes later.
After Patel called Democratic Senator Adam Schiff "the biggest fraud ever," "a disgrace," "an utter coward," and "a political buffoon," the session turned into a yelling confrontation. Patel's handling of the matter was criticized by all parties. This happened after a major shake-up at the agency that Patel was in charge of, which included extensive reassignments, firings, and loyalty tests. The incident happened only hours after a lawsuit by former FBI agents accused Patel of getting rid of agency executives for political reasons.
Tyler James Robinson's parents saw television photos of the suspected gunman and recognized him. They persuaded him to come to their home in Washington, Utah. They called a retired investigator who was a member of their Mormon church and told the Washington County sheriff that Robinson would turn himself in. Robinson was afraid that the cops would shoot him or that a SWAT squad would go to his parents' house. Robinson's father and the retired detective then drove Robinson to the sheriff's office on the evening of September 11. Robinson was arrested without any problems. The next day, Governor Spencer Cox indicated that Robinson was the only person they were looking at. The search for the man lasted 33 hours.
Robinson was 22 years old and lived in St. George, Utah, which is about 240 miles (390 km) southwest of Utah Valley University, when he was arrested. He was in his third year of an electrical apprenticeship at Dixie Technical College. He had already gone to Utah State University, but he dropped out after one semester. In 2021, he graduated from Pine View High School. He got college credit from Dixie State University while he was still in high school, from 2019 to 2021. Robinson's family belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Robinson's grandma indicated that the whole family is Republican and supports Trump.
Pictures from when the Robinson kids were little show them going on outings to shoot firearms and visit weapons exhibits. Jeffrey Gray, the Utah County prosecutor, said that Robinson's mother told investigators that her son had gotten more political over the last year and had begun to "lean more to the left, becoming more pro-gay and trans rights-oriented." Robinson was registered to vote but not a member of any party. There is no record of his voting in Washington County, where St. George is the county seat. Before his arrest, Robinson had never been in trouble with the law.
Investigators talked to Robinson's roommate, who was said to be transsexual and dating Robinson. The roommate, who was not a suspect, said they were "aghast" and "shocked" by the incident and denied knowing anything about it. Governor Cox said that the roommate had been "very cooperative" with investigators. He had given them private messages that showed Robinson was guilty. These messages talked about "the need to retrieve a rifle from a drop point, leaving the rifle in a bush, messages related to visually watching the area where a rifle was left, and a message referring to having left the rifle wrapped in a towel." The messages also mentioned a scope and engraved bullets.
After the shooting, Robinson reportedly joked in a private Discord group chat that he had a doppelgänger who was trying to frame him, that the group should give him a cut of the FBI reward money for turning him in, that he would avoid going to McDonald's (a reference to Luigi Mangione, who was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania), and that he would get rid of his manifesto and rifle.
Another message that was found later that day said, "Hey guys, I have bad news for you all. It was me at UVU yesterday. I'm sorry for all of this. I'm surrendering through a sheriff friend in a few moments. Thanks for all the good times and laughs. You've all been so amazing. Thank you all for everything." Discord later suspended his account. The next morning, a buddy in the Discord group said that the confession seemed to be accurate and asked for prayers for Robinson's repentance and for Kirk's family.
The FBI said on September 15 that Robinson's DNA matched DNA found on a towel that was wrapped around the suspected weapon and on a screwdriver that was located on the roof where the shot was fired.
Governor Cox claimed on September 14 that Robinson's political beliefs were substantially different from those of his conservative family and that he followed "leftist ideology," but he didn't say what that meant. Cox says that Robinson seems to have been more extreme after leaving Utah State University and that parts of Internet culture may have had a role. Cox also claimed that one of Robinson's family members had informed the police that Robinson had talked about how much he didn't like Kirk and how he was going to Utah Valley University over a family dinner. Trump and other Republicans said Robinson was linked to left-wing groups and promised to crack down on them, although there is no proof that Robinson was linked to left-wing groups.
On September 16, prosecutor Jeff Gray said that the "suspect had become increasingly concerned about gay and trans rights" and that he had drifted apart from his family's conservative views. He said that Robinson's friendship with his transgender roommate was one reason for this. Gray went on to explain more about the text messages that the prosecution thinks Robinson sent to his roommate. They said that Robinson had been preparing the shooting for little over a week. When the roommate asked Robinson why he did it, he said, "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out." ABC News said that the charging documents did not "indicate the relevance of those stances or whether Kirk's remarks about those issues were a motivating factor," and "Gray said he would let a judge determine whether the statements allegedly made constituted a confession."
Robinson was taken to the Utah County Jail in Spanish Fork after his arrest. A judge ordered that he be kept without bond. On September 16, he made his first court appearance via video stream in Provo, Utah County Justice Court. Robinson was in the Special Housing Unit and wore an anti-suicide smock. He was quiet for the whole thing and only spoke to repeat his name when the court asked him to.
Judge Tony Graf read Robinson the charges after all the court personnel (and then Robinson) had introduced themselves. Robinson was charged with Kirk's murder, as well as one count of criminal discharge of a firearm, two charges of obstruction of justice and witness tampering, and one act of assault conducted in front of a child. Utah state prosecutors said they will ask for the death sentence because of aggravating factors. They said Robinson planned to kill Kirk because of his political views and did it knowing that children would watch it happen.
After looking over Robinson's statement of his financial situation, Judge Graf decided that Robinson was poor and confirmed his entitlement to a public lawyer. He made the lawyers who were assigned to Robinson write down their qualifications for capital cases. Since the local public defender wasn't hired to concentrate on death sentence cases, a hunt for suitable lawyers began. Several applicants met with Robinson on September 16. Graf set the next hearing, called a "waiver appearance," for September 29 and asked Robinson to come.
The Trump administration promised to crack down on leftist groups and funders on September 15. They said, without proof, that a network of liberal organizations was promoting violence and would be broken up. Trump said he was thinking of calling some groups "terrorist organizations," and Vance said he would go after non-profits like the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundations that have given money to leftist and progressive causes. The New York Times said that First Amendment rights would make it hard for the Trump administration to achieve this. The declaration occurred at the same time as the Trump administration's sweeping attacks on political opponents and civic society.
Free speech advocates and legal experts were very critical of the administration's promises to investigate and break up leftist groups. They said the actions were a way to use Kirk's killing as an excuse to crack down on political dissent. NBC News said that the Trump administration "seems to be using Kirk's assassination as an excuse to crack down on left-wing people and groups." In reaction to Trump's threats, 100 leftist charities published an open letter defending their work and condemning the administration's plans to shut them down. They said:
It is not right to target groups for doing their jobs or showing their principles in support of the people they serve. We don't want someone to use political violence to make our good work look bad or take away our basic rights, including the right to free expression and the right to donate. Efforts to stifle speech, make opposing views illegal, and distort and limit charity donations are bad for our democracy and hurt all Americans.
After saying that the government will go after and punish certain criticism of Kirk as "hate speech," including veiled criticism from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Attorney General Pam Bondi faced backlash from both sides of the aisle. After Bondi's comments, Jonathan Karl of ABC News asked the president what he thought about what some of his friends had said about hate speech being free speech. Trump replied, "Probably go after people like you, because you treat me so unfairly, it's hate. You have a lot of hate in your heart." Bondi lost faith in FBI Director Kash Patel because of how he handled the investigation and manhunt, according to Fox News. A former federal prosecutor and legal commentator at MSNBC argued that Patel's conduct might jeopardize the accused's right to a fair trial.
The U.S. has been involved in Kirk's death. The Department of Justice reportedly took down a 2024 study called "What NIJ Research Tells Us About Domestic Terrorism." This study showed that white supremacist and far-right violence "continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism" in the United States, which is different from what the Trump administration said. It was replaced by a notice that said, "The Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs is currently reviewing its websites and materials in accordance with recent Executive Orders and related guidance. During this review, some pages and publications will be unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."
The U.S. State Department said it will look into the legal status of immigrants who were "praising, rationalizing, or making light" of Kirk's death. Stephen Miller, the White House's Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, claimed that Kirk's murder was the product of a "ideology" that is "at war with family and nature" and "always, inevitably, and willfully leads to violence." Later, he promised to "dismantle and take on" the violent extreme left groups in the US with "the power of law enforcement, under President Trump's leadership." Trump said on September 17, a week after the shooting, that he would call antifa a terrorist group.
On September 11, Air Force Two flew Kirk's casket, together with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Second Lady Usha Vance, and Kirk's wife Erika Kirk, from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Phoenix, Arizona. Trump instructed all federal government flags to be flown at half-staff until 6 p.m. on September 14. in honor of Kirk. Critics pointed out that Trump didn't do the same thing when Democratic Minnesota legislator Melissa Hortman was assassinated in June. The New York Times said Trump's words were bad and that he was no longer acting like a president who brings people together, but instead blaming his opponents and promising retribution. Later, Trump made a video tribute to Kirk and said that he will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom after his death.
On September 11, a letter from 16 Republican members of Congress to House Speaker Johnson was also posted online. It asked for a statue to be built in Kirk's memory in the U.S. Capitol. New College of Florida said on September 15 that it will build a statue honoring Kirk on its campus in Sarasota. On September 14, Karoline Leavitt, Mike Johnson, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., among other government leaders, met at the Kennedy Center for a prayer vigil to celebrate Kirk's life and work. On September 21, there will be a memorial service at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the Catholic Church said on September 19, 2025, that Kirk was like a modern-day Saint Paul.
After Kirk was killed, several workers and students were fired or suspended for remarks or social media posts that either celebrated his murder or were seen to be disparaging of Kirk or of Republicans trying to take advantage of his tragedy. People that were sacked included teachers, firefighters, military personnel, and U.S. Secret Service; a lot of them got death threats. Several politicians, prominent personalities, and professionals in both the public and commercial sectors were also fired, investigated, or suspended for what they said about the death.
Laura Loomer and other far-right activists advocated for murder and retaliation and doxxed persons they said were celebrating or rationalizing Kirk's death. The group that used to be called Expose Charlie's Murderers (now known as the Charlie Kirk Data Foundation) is said to have received more than 63,000 public comments regarding Kirk. The website has been down since September 16. Three days after the massacre, the site had 30,000 contributions. Cybersecurity experts called it a way to organize harassment and compared it to Turning Point USA's Professor Watchlist. Reuters said that certain right-wing influencers who encouraged people to report social media posts had made fun of political violence in the past. They also quoted statements from many right-wing activists, including Kirk, regarding things that had happened in the past, such the attack on Paul Pelosi. A Wisconsin elementary school teacher and a Walmart IT technician whose family had to leave their home when he was doxxed were among others who were wrongly accused of making harsh comments about Kirk or his death.
On September 12, Jimmy Kimmel, a comedian, hosted the ABC late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! said that Trump didn't bring the country together following Kirk's death and instead went after Democrats. Kimmel added on the September 15 program that the "MAGA gang" was "desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them" and was "trying to score political points" from the tragedy instead of really grieving. Brendan Carr, the head of the FCC, claimed Kimmel seemed to "directly mislead the American public" and threatened ABC with various penalties, such as taking away the broadcast licenses of its owned-and-operated stations. Nexstar Media Group said on September 17 that they would "for the foreseeable future" pre-empt Kimmel on its 32 ABC-affiliated stations. At the time, Nexstar was trying to get the FCC to approve its $6.2 billion purchase of Tegna Inc. After that, ABC said it will stop the show for an unknown amount of time. Variety said that the ban came after "several prominent conservatives have called for any critic of [Kirk's] work to be silenced, no matter how nuanced the argument may be."
On September 15, while hosting Kirk's podcast, Vice President Vance advised Americans to tell their bosses about people who were celebrating Kirk's death. He also said that the federal government will look into and penalize leftist groups and contributors. The Associated Press said that the campaign has "broadened to include even those whose statements were critical of Kirk without celebrating his assassination." Adam Goldstein of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said that the change was like right-wing cancel culture since individuals were being attacked for citing Kirk or not mourning his death enough. Goldstein added that "the government's involvement in this makes it look more like McCarthyism." CNN said that Disney workers and employees got death threats and their email addresses and phone numbers were made public. Senator Ted Cruz criticized the FCC's action, saying that "it's unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying, 'We're going to decide what speech we like and what we don't, and we're going to threaten to take you out there if we don't like what you're saying'" and pointing out that this behavior could be used against conservatives in the future.
Erika, Kirk's wife, spoke to fans on a livestream from his old podcast studio at the offices of Turning Point USA shortly after he died. She began the broadcast by thanking first responders, Kirk's staff, and the White House. She then promised, "My husband's voice will remain." She also called for revenge on "evil-doers," saying, "You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife; the cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry." She promised to keep her husband's ideals and movement alive and told viewers that she would make sure his name would never be forgotten.
Politicians from all parties condemned the shooting. Many Republicans, including President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, First Lady Melania Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, and former President George W. Bush, sent messages of sorrow. Vance hosted the September 15 episode of The Charlie Kirk Show podcast. He said he wouldn't have been Vice President without Kirk and promised to continue on his legacy.
Former presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, California governor Gavin Newsom, and Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar also spoke out against the massacre. Politicians connected the shooting to bigger political issues. A number of Republican members of Congress blamed Democrats and said that the left was using violent language to stir up violence. Several observers and Democrats said that Trump's inflammatory language also made public discourse worse, and that political violence had hurt both parties. Democrats also used the death to push for more talk about gun safety laws.
Trump only blamed the extreme left for Kirk's and other recent fatalities in his speech to the whole country. He didn't name any recent Democratic victims of violence. According to NBC News, Trump's reaction was "far more polarizing than many of the other messages offered by politicians and representatives of both parties." The Economist, The New York Times, and Time all said that Trump's claims were wrong because most people who commit political violence have been right-wing. Research has shown this to be true several times. A week after the assassination, the Department of Justice took down "What NIJ Research Tells Us About Domestic Terrorism," a 2024 study from its National Institute of Justice that found that right-wing extremists had committed most of the ideologically motivated murders in the United States since 1990 (not counting the September 11 attacks).
In response to Trump, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, who had been the target of an arson attack a few months earlier, said, "The president shouldn't cherry-pick what counts and what doesn't count. When he does that, it gives a pass to some. We can't have that. This is a moment where leaders need to speak and act with moral clarity, where we need to condemn this type of violence in our communities, in our politics." The next day, Trump said, "We have radical left lunatics out there and we just have to beat the hell out of them," but later said he hoped his supporters would be nonviolent.
Trump said during an interview on Fox & Friends on September 12 that he didn't care about radicals on both sides of the political spectrum. He said, "I'll tell you something that's going to get me in trouble, but I couldn't care less. The radicals on the right are often radical because they don't want to see crime ... The radicals on the left are the problem." Experts on political violence said that the rush to assign blame could lead to more conflict.
Johnson paused for 30 seconds of quiet in the U.S. The House of Representatives for Kirk, which all House members may see. After arguments on the floor, the event turned into a political fight with allegations from both sides. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that The Pentagon is "tracking ... very closely" any civilian or military worker who is against Kirk or who celebrates his murder in order to penalize them. Christopher Landau, the Deputy Secretary of State, told people on social media to report any foreign citizens of the U.S. who made fun of or cheered Kirk's death. In a video, Elon Musk said that lefties were cheering Kirk's murder and said, "Whether you choose violence or not, violence is coming to you. You either fight back or you die."
World leaders and officials from other countries sent words of condolence after Kirk's death. The prime ministers of Britain, Israel, Canada, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Australia, Georgia, Argentina, Poland, New Zealand, Sweden, Scotland, the Vatican City, and Mexico all sent their condolences and condemned the shooting. Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, said that the media's coverage of the event was bad. During a speech marking the 138th anniversary of the ruling Colorado Party, Paraguayan president Santiago Peña paid respect to Kirk. Pope Leo XIV was worried about political unrest and prayed for Kirk and his family.
European far-right and illiberal politicians used Kirk's murder to rally their people and attack the left. Jordan Bardella of the French National Rally said that the left's "dehumanizing rhetoric and intolerance" "fuels political violence." Alice Weidel of Alternative for Germany said that Kirk had been killed by "a fanatic who hates our way of life." Matteo Salvini, the Italian deputy prime minister and leader of Lega, said that he had "cried" over Kirk's death and wanted to be like him by talking directly to young people. During his party's annual conference in Madrid, Vox and Patriots.eu president Santiago Abascal paid respect to Kirk by donning a jersey that looked like the one Kirk was wearing when he was shot. Tommy Robinson exploited the murder to get people to support the anti-immigration Unite the Kingdom event in London on September 13.
The European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR Group) and the Europe of Sovereign Nations Group (ESN Group), who are the right-wing and far-right political groupings in the European Parliament, proposed a proposal on September 11 to conduct a minute of silence in honor of Kirk. Parliament president Roberta Metsola turned down the proposal, although Swedish ECR Group MEP Charlie Weimers was allowed to speak on Kirk's shooting before the vote. Weimers' request to give up some of his time for a moment of silence was stopped by Katarina Barley, the vice president of Parliament.
French MEP Nathalie Loiseau of Renew Europe claimed that she had received death threats after rejecting the minute of quiet, and remarked that although though Kirk was a victim, he "would have been considered a delinquent in France" for his "racist, antisemitic, and homophobic" attitudes. Valérie Hayer, head of the Renew Europe group, also argued that the European Parliament shouldn't commemorate Kirk because of his "supremacist, racist, anti-abortion, and pro-Russian" sentiments. On September 18, the Seimas (the Lithuanian parliament) conducted a moment of respect for Kirk after a resolution by Lithuanian Farmers, Greens, and Christian Families Union MP Rimas Jonas Jank? nas.
The shooting and murder of Kirk made the headlines all day, and major networks went into "breaking news mode" about 2:50 p.m. ET got the news that Kirk had been shot in the neck area, and coverage continued all day. Fox News, MSNBC, and CNN all had "larger audiences than usual" because a lot of people were interested in the event. The three networks had an average of 6.9 million viewers on September 10, 2025. This was a 65% increase from the 4.2 million who watched the week before. The three networks had a total of 6.2 million viewers on September 11, which was 72% more than the 3.6 million viewers they had the week before. Fox News had a special in primetime called Charlie Kirk: An American Original on September 12. Publications like The National, The Nation, and The New Republic criticized the shooting but also said that the mainstream media "whitewashed" Kirk's career.
Fox News host Jesse Watters said, "They are at war with us ... We're going to avenge Charlie's death in the way he would want it avenged ... Charlie would want us to put as much pressure on these people as possible." Progressive streamer Hasan Piker, who had been due to debate Kirk later in September, called the killing a "terrifying incident", and said: "The reverberation of people seeking out vengeance in the aftermath of this violent, abhorrent incident is going to be genuinely worrisome."
Comedy Central said on September 11 that it will not be airing any replays of the South Park episode "Got a Nut," in which Eric Cartman plays a parody of Kirk. There was an internet effort to get the program canceled because it made fun of Kirk so close to his death. Kirk himself said that his South Park spoof was "hilarious." After Kirk died, some NFL and MLB teams paid homage to him during their games. However, fans of both leagues criticized clubs for either recognizing Kirk or not commemorating him.
Morgan Wallen, a country musician, dedicated his song "I'm a Little Crazy" to Kirk's widow on September 12 and 13, as he finished the I'm the Problem Tour in Edmonton. Chris Martin talked about Kirk's family on September 14 during the part of Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour where he asks the audience to send love out into the world. He said, "You can send it to people you disagree with, but you send them love anyway." That same day, the English rap duo Bob Vylan made fun of Kirk's death at a concert in Amsterdam, with frontman Bobby Vylan saying, "The pronouns was/were. Because if you talk shit, you will get banged. Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk, you piece of shit." The venue then canceled a Vylan concert in Tilberg.
People on social media reacted strongly to the news of Kirk's death. The New York Times said that social media has sincere remarks from both sides, anger about political violence, and very partisan and political points of view. There were a lot more mentions and similarities to the Reichstag fire and the killing of Horst Wessel. After the 2023 Nashville school massacre, Kirk said, "It's worth having a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights." This comment was shared several times on social media. Several far-right leaders called for violence against Democrats in response to the killing and viewed it as a chance to attract new members. Several important right-wing figures called for revenge and war before the shooter's name and reasons were established. After the shooting, social media sites including Meta, YouTube, Reddit, and Bluesky all put out statements condemning posts that praised Kirk's death. In other cases, these remarks even called for violence against other right-wing bloggers or people like J. K. Rowling.
The Associated Press says that footage showing Kirk being shot that weren't edited traveled around social media "like lightning." Politico said this happened because big platforms "took down many of their protections against harmful content, often to avoid criticism from Republicans." The Tech Transparency Project, a nonprofit group that keeps an eye on tech companies, said that Instagram's teen accounts, which have extra safety safeguards for minors, might easily uncover footage of the shooting. Common Sense Media and Bark, two groups that keep an eye on media for kids, said that traffic to their sites went up after the massacre as parents looked for ways to talk to their kids about it and keep them from watching the video. Most of the horrific videos were taken down from social media the day after the massacre, but they still showed up in searches and algorithmic feeds, especially on Twitter and TikTok.
People were quite worried about political violence after Kirk was killed. A YouGov survey on September 12 showed that 87% of people thought political violence was an issue. Seventeen percent of liberals and seven percent of conservatives stated that political violence "can sometimes be justified." Among people aged 18 to 29, 22% agreed, whereas only 3% of those over 65 did. YouGov claimed that people's feelings about the attacks had changed over time based on who the victims were. For example, worry grew greater following an assault on a member of one's own party. Other sources mentioned previous surveys that had different findings. For example, in a May 2025 poll, about 20% of both parties said violence was "acceptable" for political reasons. In two polls from 2023 and 2024, about 10% of Democrats and 30% of Republicans felt violence may be "necessary."
A study by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression on September 12 indicated that more over 30% of college students thought it was okay to use violence to interrupt a speaker. This is up from 20% in 2020. G. says that Elliott Morris says that these polls make people seem more supportive of political violence than they really are. When asked more specific questions, less than 5% of people support violent offenses, and there isn't much difference between the two groups. Also, people tend to greatly overestimate how many people in the opposite side favor violence, and when they learn the real numbers, they are less inclined to support it themselves.
A YouGov survey the day after the shooting asked if it was okay to be joyful about the death of a public figure. 56% answered it was never okay, 22% said it was generally not okay, 6% said it was usually okay, and 3% said it was always okay. Republicans were more likely than Democrats and independents to believe that it was always wrong instead of generally wrong. A survey on September 14 found that 51% of people thought the person who killed Kirk did it for political reasons. This included 63% of Republicans, 44% of Democrats, and 46% of independents. 40% of those who answered weren't sure what political party the killer belonged to. 24% thought he was a Republican, 21% thought he was a Democrat, and 15% said he wasn't linked with any party. Most people in both parties thought he was connected to the other party.
A survey by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research on September 19 indicated that Republican voters were feeling more pessimistic after Kirk's killing. In the previous June 2025 study, 70% of Republican voters said they thought the country was going in the right way. In this survey, just 49% of Republican voters said they thought the country was going in the right direction. The same poll indicated that just 8% of Democrats and 14% of independents believed the country is headed in the right direction, down from 12% and 23%, respectively, in June.
After Kirk died, a painting and monument were put up on the Utah Valley University campus, not far from where the shooting happened. There were candlelight vigils in several places around the United States. Most of them were coordinated by Turning Point, but not all of them. Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Malta, Spain, South Africa, and the United Kingdom also staged similar vigils. Many online fundraisers were held in Kirk's name to commemorate his memory and help his family with money. By September 14, the multiple fundraisers had raised more than $6 million.
People started to guess about the murder because there wasn't enough information at first. Social media also spread a lot of false information on the suspect, such as a fake photo of him in a pro-Trump shirt and false claims that he was a registered Republican, had given money to Trump's campaign, or was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Politico said that Russia, China, and Iran use social media bots to distribute false information in order to get people angry and further their foreign policy goals. AI technologies like Grok, Perplexity AI, and AI Overviews also spread false information. Hours after the incident, right-wing media and analysts started to guess that the gunman was transgender since Kirk was in the process of answering a question regarding transgender individuals when he was shot. The New York Times claimed this was "a grim coincidence that has fed into online conspiracies and speculation." Hunter Kozak, who asked Kirk the question, subsequently commented, "I couldn't have asked a worse question."
Before the suspect's name was known, false information on social media tried to connect several trans people to the shooting, including Skye Valadez, a trans musician from Ogden, Utah, who reportedly uploaded a song to SoundCloud a month before Kirk's death that seemed to predict it, but has since taken it down. At the same time, an X user with the handle @NajraGalvz, who said they were a UVU student named "Omar," reportedly posted the day before the shooting that "something big" would happen the next day at Utah Valley University. A screenshot of the message and a picture of a trans lady that was changed to be under the account's name went viral. Fact checkers found out that the picture had been taken from a different account that didn't have anything to do with the incident. It belonged to a trans lady named Michaela from Seattle, Washington. Even still, Michaela said that hundreds of right-wing social media users sent her messages threatening her life and harassing her, saying she was the shooter. Michaela called the FBI to report the harassment, but she wasn't sure that the police could keep her safe from the attacks. In the meantime, @NajraGalvz changed their account after denied being involved in the crime. Another individual took over the handle to block it from being used for frauds. Some other internet theories wrongly tried to say that Skye Valadez and @NajraGalvz were the same person.
Early reports, especially in The Wall Street Journal, wrongly suggested that the writing on the bullets had messages about "transgender ideology," using what they thought was an internal bulletin from the ATF. Trans journalists warned against these reports, saying that "transgender ideology" was a term often used by right-wing groups to frame transgender identity as a political choice. The New York Times reported that a senior law enforcement official with knowledge of the case said that the alleged bulletin had not been verified and did not match other summaries of evidence. However, prominent conservative figures still used The Wall Street Journal's report to call for more action against the trans community, including banning pride flags and putting all transgender people in jail.
After these findings came out, searches for "transgender ideology" on Google shot up all around the country, but notably in Utah. The Human Rights Campaign published an open letter demanding a retraction and a public apology for publishing the false information after the details of the actual messages, which did not contain any such references, were made public. They said, "This reporting was reckless and irresponsible, and it led to a wave of threats against the trans community from right-wing influencers—and a resulting wave of terror for a community that is already living in fear." The Wall Street Journal later changed the story with a note from the editor but did not issue a retraction.
After it was revealed that the accused gunman had a transgender girlfriend, further transgender conspiracy theories arose. Some people even thought that Robinson could have killed Kirk because of Kirk's opinions and comments against transgender persons. Jacey Thornton, the executive director of the LGBTQ advocacy group Rainbow Utah, said, "It sounds like [they're] really stretching to find a way to tie this in to the trans community." She also said that this is "very harmful to this ongoing dialogue that's happening, especially on social media." Some people on social media also thought that one of the inscriptions on the bullets may be a reference to the far-right Groyper culture, based in part on how the Groypers treated Kirk during their 2019 heckling campaign. Axios called these rumors "baseless." Nick Fuentes, the leader of the Groyper group, likewise denied the rumors, saying that his followers were being "framed."
There were a lot of conspiracy theories concerning the incident that were posted online. Roger Stone, a political strategist, remarked that the incident looked like "a professional hit either by a nation state, rogue elements of our own government, or a terrorist organization." Russian official broadcaster RT pushed one hypothesis that those standing around Kirk made "unusual gestures" before he was slain. Several high-ranking Russian officials, such as former president Dmitry Medvedev and Kremlin special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, talked about a possible link between Kirk's murder and US support for Ukraine on social media, even though they didn't have any proof. This is because Kirk had been critical of Western financial and political support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. The New Zealand-based news site Stuff said that the claim that the footage of Kirk's death was manufactured because Kirk's ring seemed to swap fingers was false. They said that the band "appeared to be hinged, meaning a latch opens and closes the ring on the finger."
In the days right after the murder, people started to talk about conspiracy theories that said Israel was involved. The New Republic says that some people tried to connect the occurrence to the Israeli Mossad and Kirk's statements concerning the Epstein files. The Forward said that Maram Susli brought back a post from August 2025 by an Infowars presenter who said that Kirk thought "Israel will kill [him] if he turns against them." Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime leader of Israel, called the claims "crazy" and said they were false.
After the September 16 indictment included what were said to be text messages between Robinson and his partner, people on both sides of the political spectrum, such as Steve Bannon, Candace Owens, and Hasan Piker, said they didn't believe they were real because they sounded "unnatural," "scripted," and "too convenient." Matt Walsh, a right-wing pundit, said that the texts were meant to protect Robinson's roommate from being suspected of being involved in the shooting. Joseph Uscinski and other specialists in conspiracy theories questioned the claims.